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Why They All Come
These past few months, there have been more than few moments when I’ve had to literally stop in my tracks and look out in awe at the tens of thousands of people who come to see Amma during her programmes both in Amritapuri and on tour in India. It must be more than just the Indian tradition of going to see a saint that brings them to see Amma. It’s more than just the curiosity seekers. It’s more than the universal, unconditional love that Amma transmits when she hugs. It’s even more than the hope and inspiration that Amma gives…
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Q47: Why Jealous?
Question 47: “Why do you get jealous? What would it take to go beyond it?” — To post your answer, click on ‘Add Comment’. Please make your answer clear.
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Sivaratri in Amritapuri
5 March 2008 This past Wednesday, Sivaratri was celebrated literally all day long in Amritapuri. While our Beloved Amma was somewhere in Gujarat or Rajasthan, on Her way to Jaipur, Her children in Amritapuri were like Parvati doing penance for their beloved Siva who had suddenly disappeared. For a full 24 hours, the Brahmacharinis held a marathon of chanting, singing, and pujas in the Kali Temple which began 4:30am and ended just before Archana the next morning. Sitting in the Kalari for one of the various scheduled pujas, one could hear the Brahmachrinis chanting either the Maha Mrityunjayan Mantra (Om…
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sivaratri with amma
5 march, bharata yatra 2008, amdavad to jaipur we started to jaipur. the journey was through the fields of onion, sesame, pomegranates. the road was beautiful. once the fields finished, the beautiful waves of mountains started on either side. as we entered rajasthan, the cultivation fields almost stopped. once in a while you see some small wheat cultivation. most of the fields are used to mine marble. you don’t get water easily here. only marble. i don’t know how people live here. it was sivaratri day. we stopped for the evening. amma started playing tamborine. swamiji started with dolak. one…
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not without reason
4 march, bharata yatra 2008, amdavad, gujarat amdavad was a typical programe of gujju (gujaratis). men wear meters long turban, ladies wear saris with their frills from the back to the front. they hang a bunch of keys on their hip. the city was terribly dusty. days were hot and the nights were cold. during amma’s darshan, there were beautiful dances of children of amritavidyalayam, amdavad. after the beautiful dance of vidyalayam children, the teachers danced to the tune of bhangra. the devotees also joined. it was so beautiful. only when you understand the children, you can be with them…
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opening the eyes
29 feb, bharata yatra 2008, mumbai mumbai was too hot. luckily there were little mosquitos this time. at the end of darshan, a little boy sitting on his fathers hip told amma that he knows mantras. he chanted ‘lokah samasthah sukhino bhavanthu.’ amma told him, “its not enough to chant the mantra; you have serve the world.” there was a cute scene during the baby feeding. a baby was fully asleep when he was brought to amma for feeding. amma tried to wake him up. she blew on his face, sprinkled water on his eyes, but he wouldn’t wake. amma…
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Q46: Another planet?
Question 46: “Do you think that there is life similar to ours on another planet? If such a fact turns out to be true, how would that affect us?” ——- To post your answer, click on ‘Add Comment’. Please make your answer clear.
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gods birthday
27 feb, bharatayatra 2008, pune pune was dusty. it was very cold at night. at about 2 am. the temp suddenly dropped below 14 degrees. the small wind that blew across the ground made it worse. still people withstood the climate for darshan. the warmth of amma’s love was covering them. after sunrise, when the darshan was coming to a close, the devotees of pune came with a cake saying happy birthday. but whose birthday? they said it was amma’s birthday. about 10 or so children wearing happy birthday conical paper hats and streamers in hand were standing behind amma.…
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Look within
“It is only with the heart that one can see clearly. What is essential is invisible to the eye.” So deep and timeless a wisdom spoken between friends in Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s ‘The Little Prince’ reflects Amma’s teachings to us. How profound an experience was yesterday’s installation of the Brahmastanam Temple in Mangalore. But what was seen by the eye veiled a much greater, invisible power than we might never know. The crowd was very large and I found myself tightly squeezed into a small space with hundreds of others standing closely around the four sets of closed Temple doors,…
